Hot off the Web

An email with links to new resources from UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center:

Over the past few weeks we have been busy adding quite a bit of new information to our Web site. Our “Postharvest Publications Organized by Topic” data store grew by more than a dozen articles. This searchable resource is one of the best resources for postharvest information. The following new articles were added:

· Perspective: Flavor Quality of Fruits & Vegetables by Adel A. Kader. Journal of the Sciences of Food and Agriculture 88:1863-1868 (2008)

· Status of Energy Use and Conservation Technologies used in Fruit and Vegetable Cooling Operations in California by James F. Thompson and R. Paul Singh. California Energy Commission. 53 pages (2008)

· Impact of Ripening & Storage Conditions on Ripe Tomato Quality by Marita Cantwell. A PowerPoint presentation from the International Tomato Congress. (2008)

· San Joaquin Valley Blueberries Evaluated for Quality Attributes by Vanessa Bremer, Gayle Crisosto, Richard Molinar, Manuel Jimenez, Stephanie Dollahite, and Carlos H. Crisosto. California Agriculture Journal. July-September 2008, pages 91-96.

· Evaluation of the Effect of Different Modified Atmosphere Packaging Box Liners on the Quality and Shelf Life of ‘Friar’ Plums by Celia M. Cantín, Carlos H. Crisosto, and Kevin R. Day. HortTechnology 18:261-265 (2008)

· Leucoanthocyanidin Dioxygenase Gene (PpLDOX): A Potential Functional Marker for Cold Storage Browning in Peach by E.A. Ogundiwin, C.P. Peace, C.M. Nicolet, V.K. Rashbrook, T.M. Gradziel, F.A. Bliss, D. Parfitt, and C.H. Crisosto. Tree Genetics & Genomes 4:543-554 (2008)

· Application of Abscisic Acid (ABA) at Veraison Advanced Red Color Development and Maintained Postharvest Quality of ‘Crimson Seedless’ Grapes by Celia M. Cantín, Matthew W. Fidelibus, and Carlos H. Crisosto. Postharvest Biology and Technology 46:237-241 (2008)

· Novel 1-methylcyclopropene Immersion Formulation Extends Shelf Life of Advanced Maturity ‘Joanna Red’ Plums (Prunus salicina Lindell) by G.A. Manganaris, C.H. Crisosto, V. Bremer, and D. Holcroft. Postharvest Biology and Technology 47:429-433 (2008)

· Predicting Pitting Damage During Processing in Californian Clingstone Peaches Using Color and Firmness Measurements by C.H. Crisosto, C. Valero, and D.C. Slaughter. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 23:189-194 (2007)

· Cell Wall Modifications in Chilling-injured Plum Fruit (Prunus salicina) by G.A. Manganaris, A.R. Vicente, C.H. Crisosto, and J.M. Labavitch. Postharvest Biology and Technology 48:77-83 (2008)

· Combination of Postharvest Antifungal Chemical Treatments and Controlled Atmosphere Storage to Control Gray Mold and Improve Storability of ‘Wonderful’ Pomegranates by Lluís Palou, Carlos H. Crisosto, and David Garner. Postharvest Biology and Technology 43:133-142 (2007)

· Improvement of Storability and Shelf-life of ‘Blackamber’ Plums Treated with 1-methylcyclopropene by A.P. Candan, J. Graell, C. Crisosto, and C. Larrigaudière. Food Science and Technology International 15:437-444 (2006)

· Peach Quality and Postharvest Technology by C.H. Crisosto. Acta Hort 713:479-488 (2006)

· Genetic Control of Internal Breakdown in Peach by C.P. Peace, C.H. Crisosto, D.T. Garner, A.M. Dandekar, T.M. Gradziel, and F.A. Bliss. Acta Hort 713:489-496 (2006)

· Understanding Tree Fruit Quality Based on Consumer Acceptance by C.H. Crisosto, G. Crisosto, and F. Neri. Acta Hort 712:183 (2006)

· Early Harvest Delays Berry Skin Browning of ‘Princess’ Table Grapes by Pablo M. Vial, Carlos H. Crisosto, and Gayle M. Crisosto. California Agriculture Journal April-June 2005, pages 103-108.

· Influence of Irrigation Method and Scheduling on Patterns of Soil and Tree Water Status and Its Relation to Yield and Fruit Quality in Peach by David R. Bryla, Elizabeth Dickson, Robert Shenk, R. Scott Johnson and Carlos H. Crisosto, and Thomas J. Trout. HortScience 40:2118-2124 (2005)

June 2007 – July 2008 Addendum Available

Dr. Adel Kader has compiled Addendum #5 listing recently-published postharvest publications by category, and it has been added to our “List of Selected References” Web page.

Postharvest Yellowpages Updated

With the help of three of our great student assistants, we went through every business listed on our Postharvest Yellowpages and updated their information. This is an excellent tool if you need anything from ethylene absorbers to orchard ladders, and the list of over 500 businesses is constantly growing.

Farm labor report

Find the Aug. 15 report by USDA about farm labor here. Here is a quick summary:

There were 1,173,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of July 6-12, 2008, down 3 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 828,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 345,000 workers. Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.34 per hour during the July 2008 reference week, up 35 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $9.66 per hour, up 42 cents from last July, while livestock workers earned $9.98 per hour compared with $9.73 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $9.74 per hour, was up 37 cents from last year.The number of hours worked averaged 40.5 hours for hired workers during the survey week,The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California and in the Lake (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin), Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia), and Appalachian I (North Carolina and Virginia) regions. In California, lack of available irrigation water caused much acreage to be left fallow. Planted acreage of cotton, dry beans, and sugar beets declined sharply from 2007. Therefore, the demand for field workers was considerably lower. Rain and wet conditions in the Lake and Corn Belt I regions severely hampered most field activities and lessened the need for field workers. In the Appalachian I and II regions, wet conditions compared with the previous year's drier reference week reduced the demand for field workers. Lower cattle inventories in both regions led to fewer livestock workers being needed.

Average retail prices - spreadsheet added

I've added a spreadsheet at the bottom of the blog with average retail prices for food items tracked by the Bureau of Labor. In July, the BLS reported the average retail price for red delicious apples was $1.45 per pound, up from just $1.18 for the same month a year ago. Bananas were also up strongly, at an average of 63 cents per pound, compared with just 51 cents the same time a year ago. Iceberg lettuce was virtually unchanged and tomatoes were up about 20 cents over a year ago to average $1.71 per pound in July.

Here is consumer press coverage on the overall Consumer Price Index:

U.S. inflation highest in almost two decades From Political Affairs:
In related news analysts Realtytrac said that more than 272,000 people in the US received a foreclosure notice in July, a rise of 55 percent on a year earlier.

Florida and California had the highest rate of foreclosures, figures showed.

In a further indication of the severe problems affecting the US housing market, more than 77,000 homes were repossessed in July. As a result of this increase, 17 percent of all homes for sale in the US are repossessed properties.



CPI may not reflect your reality

Headline roundup - Fresh and Easy "stale"

TK: Tesco's Fresh and Easy is in the news this morning, with some coverage from the UK wondering if the chain has a risk of going stale. Later, another story notes the chain is looking to expand in Chicagoland.

Fresh and Easy at risk of going stale
From the Telegraph:

It's then that it becomes clear: the cheery staff-led atmosphere is what's missing in F&E. Because F&E's tills are entirely self check-out, there is little interaction between the retailer and the customer. Given the outgoing nature of most Americans - and in particular Californians - F&E might have just missed the point.

Should fast food be banned from high fat neighborhoods

Salmonella outbreak waning

Consumer sentiment buyoyed by lower oil, but consumers still uncertain of recession

Going green with solar

Tesco looks to Midwest as new frontier
From Convenience Store News:

Tesco, the world’s third largest retailer, will open a new corporate office in Chicago, a move that proceeds the launching of its Fresh & Easy convenience stores in the region.

McCain v. Obama

Our Fresh Talk poll this week found that John McCain was a 52% to 33% winner over Barak Obama in our readers' presidential preference, with the balance of voters undecided as of the week ending Aug. 16. Find the Fresh Talk poll archive here.

This week's vote is probably a pretty fair reading of the produce industry as a whole. As a matter of course, more in the trade can be expected to vote Republican over Democrat because of the GOP orientation toward lower taxes and pro-business policies..

Can Obama convince business leaders that he has an economic plan that will lead to prosperity? Is his rhetoric about "change" beginning to wear thin? Can he bring America together on the immigration issue?

Will McCain's advanced age play a role in voters' verdicts? Will the prospect of a "Dr. No" to the expectation of a Democratic Congress in the next Administration bring comfort or angst for the majority of Americans?

One can only hope the race between McCain and Obama brings defining moments in the weeks to come. I have a link to Election 2008 on the blog. Here is their coverage from Saturday's megachurch event:

Barack Obama and John McCain made a rare joint appearance at Rich Warren's huge Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA yesterday. Warren quized each candidate separately about faith, marriage, and evil. When Obama was asked to name his greatest moral failing he cited his drug use as a teenager. When McCain was asked he cited the failure of his first marriage but added President Bush's call for the country to go shopping after Sept. 11 as a moral failure (but conveniently not his). Obama used the event to emphasize over and over that he is a Christian--in part to counter a below-the-radar campaign by some Republican operatives claiming he is a Muslim. When asked when a baby gets human rights. McCain said "at the moment of conception." Obama said the question was "above my pay grade."

When Warren, who has had a long history of preaching about our need to help the poor, asked Obama what his definition of "rich" was, Obama quipped: If you sell 25 million books (which Warren has done), you qualify. McCain said anyone making $5 million a year was rich. That may come back to haunt him in Democratic attack ads that say: "John McCain thinks that if you are making only $4 million a year you're not rich, you're just an ordinary hardworking American." By making a joke, Obama demonstrated his ability to think quickly and not say things that could boomerang. McCain tends to speak his mind (like his remark that being in Iraq for 100 years was OK with him) and some of these quotes provide fodder to the other side.